Dead aid

By Wesley Macheso

In her landmark book, Dead Aid, Dambisa Moyo discusses why aid does not really work in most African countries that are dependent on the West for survival.

She views the aid that comes to these countries as harmful because it perpetuates corruption and dependency, rather than promoting sustainable development and economic growth.

Today, Moyo’s sentiments have been echoed by United States (US) President Donald Trump, who, among other things, has frozen aid provided to us through the US Agency for International Development (USaid).

Come to think of it, Trump’s threat to completely shut down USaid would be a disaster for the developing world.

The agency is key, especially in the health sector, where it provides assistance in several areas, including HIV and Aids, malaria and tuberculosis, just to name a few.

USaid has also proven to be vital in the development of vaccines during pandemics.

In Malawi, this agency is funding several organisations working towards improved health services. As such, the death of USaid could well signal our own demise, on top of massive job losses.

Understanding this, we cannot afford to take Trump’s threats lightly.

Whether USaid is completely shut down or not, one thing for sure is that, as Africans, it is about time we re-strategised and seriously considered the future of our countries.

For more than 50 years, we have been receiving aid from the West, which, as Moyo observes, has not significantly developed us.

Those who give out aid cannot continue to assist us forever. If you give someone a starter pack or a boost, you expect them to gradually pull themselves together and eventually stop depending on you.

But this has not been the case with Africa. We do not want to stop depending on the West and we have even coined fancy terms for them: ‘development partners’.

Looking at our situation, one cannot blame President Trump for his radical sentiments.

While we are heavily dependent on foreign aid, our own governments here are notorious for corruption and the first principle of our leaders is self-enrichment.

When you think of the Cashgate scandal and several other scandals that have followed over the years, it is clear that we have enough resources to push ourselves forward but we have been careless with those resources.

There is always a way in which some influential people manage to siphon public funds, either through corrupt procurement processes, the courts or any other means that work for them.

And while we are doing that, we expect to receive aid from taxpayers in rich countries.

Some have argued that the West owes us the aid we receive because they have been a huge part of our underdevelopment.

The argument is that colonialism and other forms of Western dispossession have left Africa destitute and as such, we need foreign aid as a form of reparations.

While this is a very interesting argument, the question of how much the West owes us still remains.

Where do we draw the line between claiming what was stolen from us and being dependent on others for our survival? African leaders need to seriously reconsider their approach to development.

The government of Malawi has said that it is looking for alternatives to USaid.

Whatever the leadership is planning, we hope that it will be ready in good time before we start seeing the effects of Trump’s policies in the real world.

If we are looking for alternatives to this frozen aid, then the options we are putting on the table should come from within. It would be awkward for us to start approaching other countries, begging.

Trump’s actions are a big warning that the tide may be moving in a different direction. We are not sure who else will follow suit.

Tomorrow, it may be China taking away its aid or this or that rich country. What it means is that Africa must wake up and capitalise on its resources to grow its economy.

We have been talking about industrialisation here. We have been singing about mega farms. We have been preaching about enhancing production and export trade but what have we done so far?

We can no longer depend on dead aid for our survival.